Research into the history of Football in Falkirk district : mainly concentrating on the the period up to 1945 I like to dig through the newspapers from the days of yore to find little vignettes that were rarely included in the published histories.
From the ugly side to the downright obscure, just don't expect me to write about anything too obvious ....

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

I have selected this 'best' Falkirk FC
XI because of all the nonsense about modern players. Don't get me
wrong, not slagging the current folk, I just prefer to research
Falkirk FC pre-WWII.

Obviously I never saw any of these
players play, so I am going somewhat on [lies, damned lies &]
statistics, but it is much more than that. Match reports &
commentary tell you more than just numbers. So partly this will be my
perceived knowledge of the warmth felt for players.

This was difficult, I may have got some
bits wrong, but since the picture of Falkirk is still incomplete, I
too make errors.

Chosen in the 2-3-5 formation which was
ever present until the early sixties, I give you.

Goalkeeper – Thomas Ferguson – From Dennyloanhead – still the club's most played
player, there is a reason for this

Right-Back – Thomas Scott – From Denny – Second most games for the club; he was
solid.

Left-Back
– William Leishman – From Camelon – He played 197 games yet
never scored, stuck to his job.

Right-Half
– Jock Drummond – From Alva – Capped when we were still
non-league, sadly spent most of his career with the orange Glaswegian
bigots.

Left-Half
– William Dougal – From Bonnybridge – Solid, did everything
you need from a Left-Half until the money lured him South.

Centre-Half
- Thomas Townsley – From California – This was my first problem
[John Anderson or Thomas Townsley] but Tom Townsley was more
attacking [he played more Central Midfield when Anderson was more a
defender].

Inside-Right
– Alex Stark – From Falkirk – I chose Alex because he made the
club: from 1885 to 1895 he was there, he scored our goals, he is
forgotten because professionals were more important.

Outside-Right
– John Simpson – Born in Pendleton, Lancs, but brought up in
Laurieston from the age of two - From 1908 till 1912 he was the best
Outside-Right in the World, for half of that he played for God's only
club.